Why Se7en Never Got A Sequel

Held up against pretty much any metric Hollywood executives care about, Seven was a very successful film. Critics thought fondly of the David Fincher-directed serial killer thriller, and it brought in plenty of money during its run at the box office, signifying both its artistic and financial merits—two studio check marks that usually result in a sequel being greenlighted. And yet, even with its sizable profit and uncontested entertainment value, Seven never got an official follow-up. Were there plans for one? Briefly, yes, but it obviously never materialized. This begs the question: why? Every movie studio loves a franchise, and even hit movies that seem to offer little to no narrative possibility for a follow-up often end up getting a sequel. How did Seven end up being a one-and-done exception to the rule? We've done some digging into the history of what went down behind the scenes, and the answers might surprise you.

Maybe there's a (very) silent majority out there who are still pining for a follow-up to Seven, but the fact of the matter is that the vocal movie-going populace have never expressed a ravenous desire to see a sequel. While the original movie got great reviews and made respectable bank (enough that suits toyed with the idea of a sequel), there were never legions of Fincher fans lining up outside of New Line Cinema's offices demanding more Seven films. It was a niche movie that served its purpose at the time it came out and, as most good one-shot flicks do, quietly faded into cinema history with a good legacy in its wake. It didn't break any financial records or spur a rabid cult following, it simply entertained people enough for it to be a successful one-and-done property.

If New Line Cinema was to tackle a direct sequel that continued on with the stories of Seven's lead detectives, it would've been a tough sell—not only to the prospective audience, but to whichever writer was tasked with penning the follow-up. After all, both lead characters concluded very fulfilling arcs by the end of the first film. Continuing their stories past such a natural stopping point would seem like more of an excuse for a sequel, not a reason. What might those potential excuses have been, you wonder? Well, there's a few angles that could've been taken. 

A solo spin-off with Pitt's character might've worked, following detective Mills' recovery after the events of Seven. However, a story like this would draw comparisons to the plenty of other films, of various genres, following a cop recovering from a trauma of his/her past. As such, any flaws would receive extra scrutiny. That's a bad handicap to have right out of the gate, especially after the heat of the very original, widely praised Fincher film.

Alternatively, if the sequel chose to follow Somerset, the writers would be saddled with the unenviable task of explaining the character's return from retirement. When Somerset remained poised to throw in the towel, even after the haunting finale of Seven, it looked like nothing could convince him otherwise. Therefore, it would take something unimaginably absurd to pull Somerset back into the game. That necessary absurdity is what could just as easily break a new plot as well as make it, meaning a continuation of Somerset's story would've been one extraordinarily risky proposition.

It seems New Line Cinema was wise to never release an official Seven sequel, and, when we eventually did get something resembling one, it wasn't what anyone had expected—or wanted.

The film in question: Solace. While not a direct sequel, it was originally meant to be one and to this day remains a spiritual successor to the original. 

Solace was a spec script that was retooled to fit within the Seven mythos. Right off the bat, that meant it wasn't constructed from the ground up to be a worthy successor—it was an original movie jammed into sequel clothing. And we do mean jammed; even the studio execs eventually realized it wasn't going to fit properly. 

The plot of Solace focused on a psychic detective hunting an equally psychic criminal. While the original plan was to slide Freeman's Somerset into the role of the aforementioned detective, the strange supernatural slant ended up removing Solace so far from Seven that all involved parties agreed it best to keep the two properties separate. Hence, Solace went back to being its own film, one that eventually released to poor reviews and a bad time at the box office. Two more reasons to be thankful it didn't end up being an official sequel, we suppose.

This brings us to one of the biggest reasons why Seven didn't see a sequel. David Fincher is a master of his craft and never dips into sequel territory. Meaning New Line Cinema would've had to find an equally gifted director for part two. Similarly, the original film's cast was all booked up following 1995, so the studio would've needed to talent hunt for a new set of capable stars. And, on top of that, the substantial challenge of developing a sequel-worthy script would've presented itself at some point as well. Couple those items with the fact that the original, while doing quite well, didn't exactly break records at the box office and one can only guess what the studio would've been trying to achieve with a follow-up flick. Therein lies the corporate argument for not moving forward with a sequel: the effort invested would've outweighed whatever gains the studio might've projected.